Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a system and method of rotorcraft usage monitoring. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a system and method of analyzing torque measurements and applying usage credits and/or debits to rotorcraft components.
Description of Related Art
Conventionally, aircraft have been designed to an assumed usage that is generally designed to cover the most severe usage expected by an operator. This assumed usage is used to determine the retirement lives and/or inspection intervals of structural components (rotor, driveshafts, pylon, airframe, etc.). This conventional approach leads to an aircraft which is sub-optimal (heavier than necessary) for most operators' usage. Additionally, assigning time conservatively to one system may result in assigning non-conservative time to another system (rotor components may damage more in level flight vs. mast may damage more in low cycle torque events for example). Moreover, the aircraft usage may change over time due to market demand and operator preference which can lead to early retirements, un-necessary short inspection on some components, and margin reduction on other components.
There is a need for a system and method of rotorcraft usage monitoring.